Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice

14th UNITED NATIONS CONGRESS

ON CRIME PREVENTION AND

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

KYOTO, 7–12 MARCH 2021

KYOTO DECLARATION

ON ADVANCING CRIME PREVENTION, CRIMINAL JUSTICE

AND THE RULE OF LAW: TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE

2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Photo: UN DGC

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME

Vienna

Fourteenth United Nations Congress on

Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Kyoto, Japan, 7–12 March 2021

Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention,

Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law:

Towards the Achievement of the

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

UNITED NATIONS

New York, 2021

The designations employed and the presentation of material in the publication do not

imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the secretariat of the

United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of

its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Publishing production: English, Publishing and Library Section, United Nations Ofce

at Vienna

Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention,

Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law: Towards the Achievement

of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

We, Heads of State and Government, Ministers and Representatives of Member States,

Assembled at the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and

Criminal Justice in Kyoto, Japan, from 7 to 12 March 2021, half a century after the

Fourth Congress, held in Kyoto in 1970, at which the international community vowed

to coordinate and intensify crime prevention efforts within the context of social and

economic development,

Taking stock of the 65-year legacy of the United Nations congresses on crime

prevention and criminal justice, their continuing signicant role as the largest and most

diverse international forums in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice and

their achievements in advancing discussions on policy and professional practices and

commitments by the international community,

Recalling the Doha Declaration on Integrating Crime Prevention and Criminal

Justice into the Wider United Nations Agenda to Address Social and Economic

Challenges and to Promote the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels,

and Public Participation,

adopted by the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime

Prevention and Criminal Justice, in which we reafrmed the need to integrate crime

prevention and criminal justice issues into the wider agenda of the United Nations in

order to enhance system-wide coordination,

Recognizing the need to build upon the progress made since the Thirteenth

Congress, including the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

and the achievement thereof so far, and the challenges to overcome,

Declare the following:

1. We express deep concern about the negative impact of crime on the rule of law,

human rights, socioeconomic development, public health and security, the environment

and cultural heritage;

General Assembly resolution 70/174, annex.

General Assembly resolution 70/1.

2. We also express deep concern that crime is becoming increasingly transnational,

organized and complex and that criminals are increasingly exploiting new and emerging

technologies, including the Internet, to carry out their illicit activities, thus creating

unprecedented challenges in preventing and combating existing crimes, as well as new

and emerging forms of crime;

3. We undertake to contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development through our efforts in crime prevention and criminal justice, with the rm

recognition that sustainable development and the rule of law are interlinked and mutu-

ally reinforcing, that crime is an impediment to sustainable development and that

achieving sustainable development is an enabling factor for States to effectively prevent

and combat crime;

4. We undertake to promote the rule of law through multidimensional approaches;

5. We undertake to intensify concerted global efforts to prevent and combat crime by

facilitating and strengthening international cooperation in criminal matters;

6. We draw attention, in view of rapidly changing realities, to the need for timely

adaptation and, if the need arises, strengthening of the international legal framework

for international cooperation on criminal matters;

7. We undertake to enhance the capacity of law enforcement and other criminal justice

institutions, as central components of the rule of law, and practitioners to effectively

prevent and combat crime, and to provide technical assistance in this regard;

8. We undertake that our law enforcement, criminal justice and other relevant institu-

tions will effectively and appropriately employ new and advanced technologies as tools

against crime with adequate and effective safeguards to prevent the misuse and abuse

of these technologies in this regard;

9. We emphasize our primary role and responsibility as States and Governments for

dening crime prevention strategies and policies;

10. We undertake to enhance multidisciplinary efforts to prevent and combat crime

through cooperation and coordination between law enforcement and other criminal

justice institutions, and other governmental sectors, as well as to support their work, by

engaging in and fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships with the private sector, civil

society, academia and the scientic community, and with other relevant stakeholders

as appropriate;

11. We reafrm our commitment to strengthening the central role of the Commission

on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as the main policymaking body of the United

Nations in the eld of crime prevention and criminal justice;

12. We reafrm the role of the United Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crime as the

leading entity of the United Nations supporting Member States in the eld of crime

prevention and criminal justice through the provision of technical assistance and

capacity -building, as well as through its normative work, research and expertise, in

cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to which we endeavour to provide sufcient,

stable and predictable funding, and the role of the Vienna-based intergovernmental

forums, including policymaking bodies and their subsidiary bodies, within the United

Nations system on crime prevention and criminal justice as a most valuable and global

source of knowledge, inputs, guidance and best practices in the eld of crime preven-

tion and criminal justice within their respective mandates;

13. We express grave concern about the situation arising from the coronavirus disease

(COVID-19) and its social and economic implications, which have created new oppor-

tunities for and transformed the modi operandi of criminals and organized criminal

groups in different forms and to different extents, as well as posed challenges to crimi-

nal justice in multiple aspects;

14. We also express grave concern about the vulnerability of prisons, especially in

terms of health, safety and security, to the real risk of a rapid spread of the virus in

closed settings, which can be further aggravated by long-standing challenges such as

prison overcrowding and poor prison conditions;

15. We commit ourselves to take decisive actions and action-oriented measures to

address challenges and remove international impediments posed and aggravated by

COVID-19 to crime prevention and criminal justice, including by a multilateral

approach and strengthening the resilience of law enforcement and other criminal justice

institutions through multilateral cooperation and multi-stakeholder partnership, with

special attention to the urgent capacity-building and technical assistance needs of devel-

oping countries in this regard, bearing in mind the long-term social and economic

implications of the pandemic, including for sustainable development and international

cooperation, and recognizing that the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit

by the impact of the pandemic;

16. We recognize, in light of the ongoing experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, and

in preparation for any similar future challenges, the need to review criminal justice

systems and to make them more effective, accountable, transparent, inclusive and

responsive through promoting digitalization;

17. We recommit to a multilateral approach in preventing and combating crimes and

promoting the rule of law at the local, national, regional and international levels, and

reafrm the central role of the United Nations, including the role of the United Nations

Ofce on Drugs and Crime as the leading entity of the United Nations in supporting

Member States in this regard;

18. We strongly reafrm the responsibility of all States to fully promote and protect

all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to uphold the principle of human

dignity, in the impartial administration of justice and throughout all our efforts in pre-

venting and combating crime;

19. We strongly reafrm the responsibility of all States to uphold the Charter of the

United Nations in its entirety and to fully respect the principles of sovereign equality

and the territorial integrity of States and that of non-intervention in the domestic affairs

of other States throughout all our efforts in preventing and combating crime;

20. We commit to making full and effective use of the United Nations Convention

against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto,

the United Nations

Convention against Corruption,

the three international drug control conventions, rele-

vant international conventions and protocols related to counter-terrorism, as parties to

those instruments, and other relevant international obligations, including as a basis to

facilitate international cooperation;

We therefore endeavour to take the following actions:

Advancing crime prevention

Addressing the causes, including the root causes, of crime

21. Develop, implement and evaluate crime prevention strategies, including their

effectiveness, that address the causes, including the root causes, and risk factors that

make different segments of society more vulnerable to crime, and share best practices

to strengthen our capacity;

Evidence-based crime prevention

22. Enhance evidence-based crime prevention strategies through the collection and

analysis of data using systematic and coherent criteria, bearing in mind the International

Classication of Crime for Statistical Purposes, and evaluate the effectiveness of such

strategies;

23. Improve the quality and availability of data on crime trends, considering the

development of statistical indicators, and share such data, on a voluntary basis, to

strengthen our capacity to better understand global crime trends and improve the effec-

tiveness of strategies to prevent and combat crime;

United Nations, Treaty Series, vols. 2225, 2237, 2241 and 2326, No. 39574.

Ibid., vol. 2349, No. 42146.

Addressing the economic dimension of crime

24. Develop and implement effective measures to address the economic dimension

of crime and deprive criminals and criminal organizations of any illicit gains through,

inter alia, identifying, tracing, seizing, conscating, recovering and returning proceeds

of crime, as well as establishing robust domestic frameworks for nancial investiga-

tions, and to develop strategies to prevent and combat money-laundering and illicit

nancial ows;

25. Consider, review and implement efcient measures to regulate the management

of seized and conscated proceeds of crime, bearing in mind the study prepared by the

United Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crime on effective management and disposal of

seized and conscated assets,

with a view to efciently preserving and managing such

proceeds of crime;

Tailor-made crime prevention strategies

26. Promote tailor-made crime prevention strategies that take into account local con-

texts, including by fostering among the general public a culture of lawfulness, cogni-

zant of cultural diversity, based on respect for the rule of law, in order to, inter alia,

advance cooperation among stakeholders and the police, promote positive conict reso-

lution, as well as community-oriented policing in accordance with national legislation,

and prevent gang-related and urban crime and all forms of organized crime;

Mainstreaming a gender perspective into crime prevention

27. Mainstream a gender perspective into crime prevention policies, programmes,

legislation and other actions to, inter alia, prevent all forms of gender-related violence,

crime and victimization, including gender-related killings, by undertaking an analysis

of gender-related specic needs and circumstances, as well as by soliciting contribu-

tions from impacted groups;

28. Prevent and counter domestic violence, and to that end, take effective measures

within our domestic legislation, such as ensuring appropriate handling of cases, coor-

dinating the role of welfare and criminal justice institutions and providing a safe envi-

ronment for victims;

Effective Management and Disposal of Seized and Conscated Assets (Vienna, 2017).

Children and youth in crime prevention

29. Address the needs and protect the rights of children and youth, with due consid-

eration to their vulnerabilities, to ensure their protection from all forms of crime, vio-

lence, abuse and exploitation both online and ofine, such as sexual abuse and

exploitation of children and trafcking in persons, noting the particular vulnerabilities

of children in the context of smuggling of migrants, as well as recruitment by organized

criminal groups including gangs, as well as by terrorist groups;

Youth empowerment for crime prevention

30. Empower youth to become active agents of positive change in their communities

to support crime prevention efforts, including by organizing social, educational, cultural,

recreational, sports-related youth programmes and youth forums, as well as by using

social media platforms and applications and other digital tools to amplify their voice;

Advancing the criminal justice system

Safeguarding victims’ rights and protecting witnesses and

reporting persons

31. Protect the rights and interests of victims of crime and make efforts to assist them

at every stage of criminal justice proceedings, giving due attention to the special needs

and circumstances of victims, including age, gender-specic and other needs, and dis-

abilities, as well as to the harms caused by crime, including trauma, and endeavour to

provide victims with the means that may assist in their recovery, including the possibil-

ity to obtain compensation and reparation;

32. Encourage victims to report crime by providing them with adequate support,

including in criminal proceedings, such as effective access to translation services;

33. Take appropriate measures to provide effective protection for witnesses in crimi-

nal proceedings and for reporting persons;

34. Provide adequate resources and training to practitioners to strengthen their capac-

ity to provide victim-centred assistance and support that take into account the specic

needs of victims;

Improving prison conditions

35. Improve the detention conditions for both pretrial and post-trial detainees and the

capacities of prison, correction and other relevant ofcers in this regard, including by

promoting the practical application of relevant provisions of the United Nations

Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules),

as well as the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-

custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules);

36. Take measures to address overcrowding in detention facilities and to improve the

overall effectiveness and capacity of the criminal justice system, including by consider-

ing the use of alternatives to pretrial detention and custodial sentences, giving due

consideration to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial

Measures (the Tokyo Rules);

Reducing reoffending through rehabilitation and reintegration

37. Promote a rehabilitative environment in correctional facilities, including through

designing and implementing effective treatment programmes based on an individual

assessment of the needs and risks of offenders, and provide offenders with access to

vocational and technical training and educational programmes to support them to

develop the necessary skills for reintegration;

38. Promote a rehabilitative environment in the community to facilitate the social

reintegration of offenders with the active involvement of local communities, giving due

regard to the need to protect society and individuals and the rights of victims and

offenders;

39. Promote multi-stakeholder partnerships to reduce reoffending by fostering inter-

agency coordination among relevant government authorities, such as employment and

social welfare agencies and local governments, as well as public-private partnerships

between those authorities and the community, including cooperating employers and

community volunteers who support the long-term and social reintegration of

offenders;

40. Raise awareness of the importance of the public acceptance of offenders as mem-

bers of the community and the signicance of community engagement in assisting their

long-term and social reintegration;

General Assembly resolution 70/175, annex.

General Assembly resolution 65/229, annex.

General Assembly resolution 45/110, annex.

41. Promote, where appropriate, cooperation on the transfer of sentenced persons to

serve the rest of their sentences in their own countries, conclude bilateral or multilateral

agreements or arrangements in this regard as necessary, taking into consideration the

rights of sentenced persons and issues relating to consent, rehabilitation and reintegra-

tion, as appropriate, and raise awareness among these prisoners about the availability

of such measures;

42. Facilitate, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic legal frameworks,

restorative justice processes at relevant stages in criminal proceedings in order to assist

the recovery of victims and the reintegration of offenders, as well as to prevent crime

and recidivism, and assess their usefulness in this regard;

Mainstreaming a gender perspective into criminal justice systems

43. Develop and implement appropriate and effective policies and plans to achieve

gender equality and remove impediments to the advancement of women and women’s

empowerment in law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions at all levels,

and in this regard pledge to take further concrete action to ensure the full, effective and

accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

and of

the outcome documents as adopted at the twenty-third special session of the General

Assembly;

44. Mainstream a gender perspective into the criminal justice system by promoting

gender-responsive measures that address the gender-specic needs of both offenders

and victims, including the protection of women and girls from revictimization in crimi-

nal justice proceedings;

Addressing the vulnerabilities of children and youth in contact with

the criminal justice system

45. Establish or strengthen juvenile justice systems or other similar proceedings that

address the seriousness of the offending behaviour and the degree of responsibility of

juveniles, as well as their vulnerabilities and the causes, including the root causes, and

risk factors of their offending behaviour, in order to facilitate their rehabilitation and

reintegration, including by promoting the practical application of relevant provisions

of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile

Justice (the Beijing Rules);

Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations

publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.

General Assembly resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.

General Assembly resolution 40/33, annex.

46. Implement, and strengthen as appropriate, measures to assist the rehabilitation

and reintegration of children and youth who have been involved in all forms of organ-

ized criminal groups including gangs, as well as in terrorist groups, while protecting

their rights and giving full recognition to the importance of delivering justice and pro-

tecting the safety of victims of these criminal groups and society throughout the imple-

mentation of such measures;

Improving criminal investigation processes

47. Encourage the use and sharing of good practices on legally grounded, evidence-

based interviewing methods designed to obtain only voluntary statements, thereby

reducing the risk of unlawful, abusive and coercive measures being used during crimi-

nal investigation processes, and enable the obtaining of best evidence, thereby improv-

ing the legitimacy and quality of criminal investigations, prosecutions and convictions,

and the efcient use of resources, as well as continue to welcome the collaboration

between practitioners, experts and other relevant stakeholders on the elaboration of a

set of international guidelines for non-coercive interviewing methods and procedural

safeguards in this regard;

Promoting the rule of law

Access to justice and equal treatment before the law

48. Ensure equal access to justice and application of the law to all, including

vulnerable members of society, regardless of their status, including by taking appropriate

measures to ensure treatment with respect and without discrimination or bias of any

kind by criminal justice institutions;

Access to legal aid

49. Take measures to ensure access to timely, effective, adequately resourced and

affordable legal aid for those without sufcient means or when the interests of justice

so require, and raise awareness of the availability of such aid, including by promoting

the practical application of relevant provisions of the United Nations Principles and

Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems,

United Nations Ofce

on Drugs and Crime tools on ensuring the quality of legal aid services in criminal jus-

tice processes and other related tools, by encouraging the development of guidance

tools, as well as the collection and sharing of data on access to legal aid, and by

General Assembly resolution 67/187, annex.

developing a specialized network of legal aid providers to exchange information and

best practices and to assist each other in carrying out their work;

National sentencing policies

50. Promote national sentencing policies, practices or guidelines for the treatment of

offenders in which the severity of penalties for offenders is proportionate to the gravity

of offences in accordance with national legislation;

Effective, accountable, impartial and inclusive institutions

51. Ensure the integrity and impartiality of law enforcement and other institutions

comprising the criminal justice system, as well as the independence of the judiciary,

and ensure the fair, effective, accountable, transparent and appropriate administration

and delivery of justice, while taking into consideration the documents

noted by rele-

vant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions;

52. Take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other relevant measures to

prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish all forms of torture and end impunity in this

regard, and to prevent other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

Effective anti-corruption efforts

53. Effectively avail ourselves of existing tools of the international anti-corruption

architecture, particularly by implementing the Convention against Corruption and the

Organized Crime Convention, and other relevant tools where applicable;

54. Develop, adequately resource and implement effective policies and measures,

including by, inter alia, enhancing the collection and assessment of data to analyse

corruption and strengthening the integrity, transparency and accountability of public

institutions, in order to prevent, detect, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate corruption

in a holistic manner for ending impunity;

55. Ensure the use of appropriate measures to effectively disrupt the existing links

between organized criminal groups and corruption, including by preventing and com-

bating bribery and the laundering of proceeds of crime into the legitimate economy,

These documents include the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and its com-

plementary document, the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, the Basic Principles on the Role of

Lawyers and the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, and the Istanbul Declaration on Transparency

in the Judicial Process and measures for the effective implementation of the Istanbul Declaration.

and thus develop strategies to prevent and combat illicit nancial ows;

56. Provide protection against any unjustied treatment for any persons who report

acts of corruption in good faith and on reasonable grounds to the competent authorities,

and thereby promote the reporting of corruption;

57. Investigate, prosecute and punish threats and acts of violence, falling within their

jurisdiction, committed against journalists and media workers, whose professional

duties put them at specic risk of intimidation, harassment and violence through the

conduct of impartial, efcient and effective investigations, in particular in the context

of ghting corruption and organized criminal activities, including in conict and post-

conict situations, with a view to ending impunity for crimes committed against them,

in accordance with national legislation and applicable international law;

58. Increase public awareness of means for reporting instances of corruption, includ-

ing by disseminating information regarding the responsibilities and rights of reporting

persons, including available measures for their protection;

Social, educational and other measures

59. Provide access to quality education and promote awareness-raising activities

regarding law and policies, including public law-related education for all, to equip the

public with the values, skills and knowledge necessary to foster among the general

public a culture of lawfulness, cognizant of cultural diversity, based on respect for the

rule of law;

Promoting international cooperation and technical assistance

to prevent and address all forms of crime

International cooperation, including through capacity-building and

technical assistance

60. Actively participate in and contribute to the recently launched Mechanism for the

Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational

Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, as well as the Mechanism for the Review

of Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in order to

assist States parties in the implementation of those instruments, identify and substanti-

ate specic needs for technical assistance, share best practices and promote effective

international cooperation;

61. Increase the efciency and effectiveness of central authorities and other compe-

tent authorities responsible for facilitating international cooperation such as mutual

legal assistance and extradition, including by providing adequate human and material

resources, expertise and tools such as modern communications and case-management

tools, enhancing capacity-building and technical assistance programmes and updating

and disseminating tools such as the Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime

knowledge management portal, the Mutual Legal Assistance Request Writer Tool and

the Directory of Competent National Authorities, with the cooperation and coordination

of the United Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crime;

62. Strengthen effective international cooperation in criminal matters, including in

the areas of extradition and mutual legal assistance, while effectively addressing exist-

ing challenges and difculties, especially with regard to requests, and promoting good

practices, facilitate the use of existing regional and international instruments, including

the Convention against Corruption and the Organized Crime Convention, as a legal

basis for extradition and mutual legal assistance cooperation, and implement and con-

clude, as necessary, agreements or arrangements to enhance international cooperation

in this regard;

63. Establish or strengthen regional and cross-regional cooperation networks of law

enforcement and other criminal justice practitioners to exchange information and best

practices with a view to, inter alia, building trust among them and further facilitating

international cooperation;

64. Facilitate the formal and, to the extent permitted under domestic law, non-formal

exchange of information and communication necessary to prevent and combat crime,

including through the support of intergovernmental organizations such as the Inter-

national Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL);

65. Continue to enhance international cooperation through technical assistance and

capacity-building, including with the support of the United Nations Ofce on Drugs

and Crime, and build upon ongoing initiatives and good practices such as the Global

Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration;

66. Promote, facilitate and support the widest measures of technical assistance,

including material support and training, with a view to enabling law enforcement

authorities and criminal justice institutions to effectively prevent and combat crimes,

taking into account the specic challenges faced by and the particular needs of develop-

ing countries;

67. Recognize the fundamental role of effective international cooperation in prevent-

ing and combating crime and to this end, underline the importance of addressing, tack-

ling and effectively responding to international challenges and barriers, in particular

measures, that hinder such cooperation, and which are not consistent with the Charter

of the United Nations and obligations under international law, and in this regard urge

States, consistent with their international obligations, to refrain from applying such

measures;

International cooperation to deprive criminals of their proceeds of crime

68. Strengthen international cooperation and assistance regarding the identication,

tracing, freezing, seizing and conscation of proceeds or other property and instrumen-

talities of crime and their disposal including by return, including in accordance with all

the relevant provisions and principles of the Organized Crime Convention and the

Convention against Corruption, and where appropriate, give special consideration to

concluding agreements or mutually acceptable arrangements in this regard, on a case-

by-case basis, for the return and nal disposal of conscated property pursuant to

article57, paragraph5, of the Convention against Corruption, as well as due considera-

tion to agreeing to measures to enhance transparency and accountability, recognizing

that, consistent with article4 of the Convention, States cannot unilaterally impose terms

in this regard;

69. When resolving corruption-related cases that make use of alternative legal mecha-

nisms and non-trial resolution including settlements, that have proceeds of crime for

conscation and return, make use of assistance from affected States, where appropriate

and consistent with domestic law, in order to enhance international cooperation, infor-

mation- and evidence-sharing and the recovery of proceeds of crime in accordance with

the Convention against Corruption and domestic law;

70. Recognize asset recovery as an important element of crime prevention and crimi-

nal justice, particularly in cases involving corruption, and in that regard strengthen

political will while safeguarding due process;

71. Encourage States to remove barriers and overcome obstacles to applying meas-

ures for the recovery of assets, in particular by simplifying their legal procedures, where

appropriate and in accordance with domestic law, taking into consideration the

2030Agenda for Sustainable Development in the use of returned assets in accordance

with domestic laws and in line with domestic priorities, and bearing in mind that

strengthening the recovery of stolen assets and their return will support the implementa-

tion of the 2030 Agenda;

72. Implement the measures necessary to obtain and share reliable information on

benecial ownership of companies, legal structures or other complex legal mechanisms,

thus facilitating the investigation process and the execution of mutual legal assistance

requests;

Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations

73. Strengthen cooperation at the international, regional and subregional levels to

prevent and combat all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations, including by strengthening the rule of law at all levels and by ensuring

the implementation by parties of the relevant international conventions and protocols

related to counter-terrorism and by formulating strategies aimed at effectively address-

ing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism including violent extremism as

and when conducive to terrorism, while recognizing that nothing can justify acts of

terrorism, and implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in all

its aspects at the international, subregional and national levels without delay, including

by mobilizing resources and expertise;

74. Ensure more effective actions against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations

wherever and by whomsoever committed, in particular investigations and prosecutions

supported by credible and veriable information and evidence, and to this end improve

the collection, handling and preservation of relevant information and evidence, and

consider participating in information- and evidence-sharing networks as appropriate;

75. Identify, analyse and counter any existing, growing or potential links, in some

cases, between the nancing of terrorism and transnational organized crime, illicit

drug-related activities, money-laundering, kidnapping and hostage-taking with the aim

of raising funds including by demands for ransom, and extortion, to prevent and tackle

nancial and logistical support to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and

prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons, in compliance with obligations under appli-

cable international law;

76. Address the growing threat posed by foreign terrorist ghters, including through

the implementation of applicable international obligations, and underline the impor-

tance of United Nations capacity-building and facilitation of capacity-building in

accordance with existing mandates to assist States, including those in the most-affected

regions, upon their request;

77. Improve the security and resilience of critical infrastructure and the protection of

particularly vulnerable “soft targets”, including through increased information-sharing

among law enforcement, the private sector and the public;

78. Take appropriate measures to prevent and combat incitement to commit a terrorist

attack and the spread of such terrorist propaganda, and expressing alarm at the glorica-

tion of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations;

New, emerging and evolving forms of crime

79. Strengthen measures to address new, emerging and evolving forms of crime,

including by making maximum use of the relevant and applicable conventions, such as

the Organized Crime Convention and the Protocols thereto through the measures con-

tained therein, to prevent and combat crimes, facilitate international cooperation and

conscate and return the proceeds of crime;

80. Examine trends and the evolution of methods employed in the conduct of crime

to develop effective means of international cooperation and technical assistance, includ-

ing through enhanced information-sharing and an exchange of views, experiences and

best practices within the framework of the Commission on Crime Prevention and

Criminal Justice and other relevant global and regional forums;

81. Strengthen efforts to prevent, counter and combat trafcking in persons, including

by supporting data collection and sharing as appropriate, through relevant technical

assistance by the United Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crime, addressing factors that

make people vulnerable to trafcking, detecting and dismantling trafcking networks,

including in supply chains, discouraging demand that fosters exploitation leading to

trafcking, ending impunity of trafcking networks, conducting nancial investigations

and using special investigative techniques under the conditions prescribed by domestic

law, and protecting victims of trafcking in persons;

82. Adopt and implement effective measures to prevent and combat the smuggling

of migrants and protect the lives and the human rights of migrants, consistent with the

respective obligations of parties under the Organized Crime Convention and the

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the

Convention

and all other relevant international obligations, especially on human

rights, strengthen bilateral, regional and international cooperation in this regard, in

particular to tackle, including through the concurrent undertaking of nancial investiga-

tions and special investigative techniques, the increasing role of transnational and

national organized criminal groups proting from such crime and other crimes against

migrants, and underscore to make every possible effort to prevent further casualties and

loss of lives;

83. Foster global, regional and bilateral cooperation to prevent criminals and criminal

organizations from accessing rearms, and strengthen mechanisms and strategies for

border control for preventing and combating illicit trafcking in and diversion of re-

arms, their parts and components and ammunition, including online trade, and the illicit

reactivation of deactivated rearms;

84. Enhance cooperation to address and counter threats related to technological

developments and changing modi operandi with regard to the illicit manufacturing of

and trafcking in rearms, their parts and components and ammunition and investigate

and prosecute these crimes, including by ensuring law enforcement cooperation, as well

as the systematic tracing of seized arms;

United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2241, No. 39574.

85. Effectively address and counter the world drug problem, which requires concerted

and sustained action at the national, regional and international levels, including accel-

erating the implementation of existing drug policy commitments, through a compre-

hensive and balanced approach and based on the principle of common and shared

responsibility;

86. Take more effective measures to prevent and end abuse, exploitation, trafcking

and all forms of violence against and torture of children, including child sexual exploi-

tation and sexual abuse online and ofine, by criminalizing such acts, supporting vic-

tims and fostering international cooperation to combat these crimes;

87. Adopt effective measures to prevent and combat crimes that affect the environ-

ment, such as illicit trafcking in wildlife, including, inter alia, ora and fauna as

protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora,

in timber and timber products, in hazardous wastes and other wastes

and in precious metals, stones and other minerals, as well as, inter alia, poaching, by

making the best possible use of relevant international instruments and by strengthening

legislation, international cooperation, capacity-building, criminal justice responses and

law enforcement efforts aimed at, inter alia, dealing with transnational organized crime,

corruption and money-laundering linked to such crimes, and illicit nancial ows

derived from such crimes, while acknowledging the need to deprive criminals of pro-

ceeds of crime;

88. Encourage data collection and research on the manufacturing of and trafcking

in falsied medical products, while recognizing, within its scope of application, the

denition of falsied medical products endorsed by the World Health Assembly in

2017, and, taking this into account, strengthen, as appropriate, measures to respond to

the manufacturing of and trafcking in falsied medical products;

89. Strengthen national and international responses to trafcking in cultural property

and other crimes targeting cultural property, and any links to the nancing of organized

crime and terrorism, and enhance international cooperation in this regard, including

through appropriate channels, the return or restitution of such illicitly trafcked cultural

properties to countries of origin, taking into consideration existing instruments such as

the Organized Crime Convention, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and

Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,

the International Guidelines for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses with

Respect to Trafcking in Cultural Property and Other Related Offences,

and other

relevant instruments, and with a view to considering all possible options to make effec-

tive use of the applicable international legal framework to combat crimes against

Ibid., vol. 993, No. 14537.

Ibid., vol. 823, No. 11806.

General Assembly resolution 69/196, annex.

cultural property, and considering any proposals to supplement the existing framework

for international cooperation, as necessary;

90. Undertake efforts to better understand the smuggling of commercial goods with

a view to strengthening our responses, in accordance with national law, to this type of

crime and its possible linkages with corruption and other crimes;

91. Develop effective strategies, including by enhancing the capacity of criminal

justice professionals, to prevent, investigate and prosecute hate crimes, as well as

engage effectively with victims and victim communities to build public trust when

engaging with law enforcement to report such crimes;

92. Strengthen measures to address the threat of other new, emerging and evolving

forms of crime, as well as their possible links with organized criminal groups as a

source of lucrative prots for their illicit activities;

93. Enhance coordination and international cooperation to effectively prevent and

combat the growing threat of cybercrime;

94. Promote the appropriate utilization of technology by law enforcement and other

criminal justice institutions through providing technical assistance upon request,

capacity -building and necessary training, as well as improving legislation, regulations

and policies so that they are adaptable to continuous technological developments;

95. Promote, at the national, regional and international levels, with due respect for

domestic legal frameworks and the principles of international law, public-private

partner ships with the digital industry, the nancial sector and communication service

providers to enhance international cooperation to combat cybercrime;

In order to ensure appropriate follow-up to this present declaration and to our

commitments:

96. We call upon the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in

accordance with its mandate, to adopt the appropriate policy and operational measures

for the follow-up to this declaration and to identify innovative ways to make use of

information on progress made in the implementation of this declaration, and invite the

Commission to engage with other relevant stakeholders, including the institutes of the

United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, in order to

strengthen global partnership in advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the

rule of law towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda;

97. We express our profound gratitude to the people and Government of Japan for

their warm and generous hospitality and for the excellent facilities provided for the

Fourteenth Congress.

Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria

Tel.: (+43-1) 26060-0, Email: [email protected], www.unodc.org

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